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Untitled Document

Mail Call

Dear November Coalition

Currently, I am incarcerated in the state
of Wisconsin. For almost 15 years, I have had to sit on the sidelines,
watching the "Prison Boom" consume more and more lives
and, yes, destroy more and more families and communities. I am
so fed up and utterly disgusted with this system (the Prison-Industrial
Complex). It's not only because I am a part of it, because we
are all a part of it, or affected by it in some way.

I am fed up and disgusted because I know
the truth: prisons are just another big business, and like many
big businesses, the bottom line is PROFIT.

The public pays all those taxes, which
in turn pay for the prisons so they can feel safe, but in reality,
they are in even more peril because of prisons.

It pains me daily to know that yet another
generation will fall to the greed of this system. Prisons are
equal opportunity destroyers.

If I can be of any assistance to your organization,
please let me know. I don't have much to offer, but I will give
you my mind and my passion.

Respectfully,

Ramiah A. Whiteside, New Lisbon, WI

What can I do to help besides the obvious?
I am a paraplegic since1980 after a motorcycle accident. I would
like to do more then the usual letter writing which does very
little good. I'd love to help shake up the world.

Parole was abolished in Florida in 1983.
The parole commission was given until 1993 to finish up their
business. They are still there, with their high-paying jobs.
Instead of paroling eligible inmates, they keep extending and
suspending the parole dates, holding these people to keep their
jobs, using unjustified excuses, not valid reasons.

Persons sentenced under the new guidelines
of 1983 have been receiving shorter sentences; many have served
their time and are home already, while inmates under the old
parole system are still serving time because the commission won't
parole them.

Even murderers have served less time after
the 1983 guidelines, while many under the parole system haven't
murdered anyone, yet are still incarcerated.

I pray someone will help us, the families
of those still in prison.

Ida Evans, Florida

Now that they are finally looking at reducing
the prison population -- for reasons of dollars and cents, not
out of any great concern for justice -- they often mention employability
or transforming these costly prisoners into taxpayers and family
breadwinners. However, most everything in the post-release practices
and system conspire to make ex-offenders into perpetual paupers.

My case is a good example, unusual only
in that I was better educated than most ex-cons. I came out after
10 years for a drug conspiracy with 10 years of Supervised Release,
and a $25,000 fine.

After holding a good job for seven years,
a new PO was assigned me. First he called to tell me that I should
quit my job as Executive Director of a Social Service Agency
in Boston because he had put my profile in the State's data banks
and that at the next check I would be fired. I tried to find
other work but criminal background info is freely available and
companies will not hire you except for physical, manual labor
since they fear insurance problems. I finally declared bankruptcy.
three years after the end of my Supervised Release, after bankruptcy,
the Department of Justice contacted me to demand payment of the
rest of my fine: $17,000 (with interest).

So there I sit, totally unable to resume
a self supporting life free from the system, even 20 years after
the crime.

Unless this facet of the justice system
is given some attention, I fear the 1000's released as part of
the proposed reforms will swell the ranks of the homeless and
be promptly back behind bars for various violations.

P. Williams, Massachusetts

I am a student earning my masters degree
in criminal justice, and I also have a brother who was sentenced
to federal prison for 18 years on two counts of intent to distribute
and drug conspiracy. I want to be a part of your No New Prison
project, and I am willing to fight all the way. I feel that our
mandatory sentences are ridiculous. There is no benefit to anyone
keeping a man in prison for a nonviolent offense. I have heard
so many stories of people sentenced to prison being treated worse
than animals. The ASPCA would not allow this inhuman treatment
to an animal -- why is our justice system doing it?

I will work my hardest to get you noticed,
and help in any way possible to stop this injustice. Please inform
me what I need to do. Thank you for your time and dedication
to the wonderful protest your organization is doing.

Cynthia Ramirez, El Paso, TX

Attention Prisoners

1) Some states and the federal prison system
are now allowing limited email access to prisoners. As November
staff understands it, email "aliases" are not allowed
by most of the inmate email systems. Many of the email addresses
you'll find on our website and in The Razor Wire (such
as "name@november.org") are actually aliases provided
to us by the server that hosts our website, and as such, will
probably not work.
If you wish to communicate with Nora Callahan directly via email,
use the following email address: ncallahan@plix.com
We look forward to hearing from you.

2) Apparently, several prisoner-oriented
publications list us as having a "Reentry and Resource
Guide" available. While we do have a reentry news section
on our website at www.november.org/Reentry, we sadly do not
have the resources to offer such a published guide. We apologize
for the misunderstanding.